I have been working at L.E.K. Consulting full-time for more than 5 years

Pros

Very smart / engaged teams- makes day to day work fun and interesting. Projects are high impact / highly interesting. Very focused on high-level corporate strategy and large, impactful M&A. Compensation is inline with MBB. Probably only strategy consulting firm that does this high a level of strategy cases (in terms of leading clients / project types) that isn't Mon-Thurs travel so you get to sleep in your... own bed. Growing fast so lots of promotion opportunity; not "up or out". Good about protecting weekends from work.

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Cons

It's professional-services so each client is a new boss and hours often 55-60/week rather than 40 and can be quite variable (not sure on Monday what hours on Thursday will be like). At least in U.S., new business is growing faster than new hiring so staffing is tighter with less breaks between cases than there should be.

Smart colleagues and leadership. Great exposure across industries. Early leadership opportunities and quick growth through rigorous performance reviews. Collegiate work environment with lots of fun activities

Cons

Lacks with life balance. Sometimes can get grueling to the point where your brain may stop working due to fatigue. Very little tolerance / leeway for off days or performance issues

I have been working at L.E.K. Consulting full-time for more than 5 years

Pros

L.E.K. focuses on strategic consulting engagements, which in turn contributes to shorter projects, less travel, and more time spent in the office compared to other Consulting firms. This leads to a strong in-office culture that makes L.E.K. an enjoyable place to work. The learning curve is steep, but L.E.K. provides a strong Professional Development program to help colleagues navigate the learning curve.

Cons

Like other Consulting / client services firms, predictability can be difficult on some projects. However, the firm has made strides towards improving work / life balance significantly

Advice to Management

Continue to move along the upward trajectory and be more strategic about not over-selling / under-staffing projects

Strategy focus - MBB say they are "strategy" but a very high share of their business comes from multi-year implementation projects
Lack of travel - strategy cases means we are more efficient working from our home office than the client site (I have been on ~4 travel cases in 7 years)
Management responsibility - from Consultant onward the role is to manage Associates rather then work in PowerPoint and Excel... yourself
Entrepreneurial culture - being an MD at L.E.K. is essentially like running your own start-up with much less downside risk (albeit with less upside opportunity but the upside at L.E.K. is still big)

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Cons

Long hours (gets much better with tenure if you are good / efficient)
Unpredictable hours (inherent to client services)

Advice to Management

Continue to think of ways to enhance the sustainability of the work so we keep our best employees

I have been working at L.E.K. Consulting full-time for more than 5 years

Pros

-Early management experience for MBAs
-Merit based performance (always be challenged and grow at your rate)
-Great people / environment (very friendly, outgoing, extremely smart, and help each other)
-Interesting / stimulating work (shorter, pure strategy projects)
-Low travel, which also means more fun office culture (travel primarily for presentations and workshops, not to just be on site)

Cons

-Challenging hours
-Not as much control over staffing as you'd like

Advice to Management

Continue to build out the staff support capabilities and programs comparable to large competitors. Senior leaders are on track with this and clearly investing in infrastructure for growth

I have been working at L.E.K. Consulting full-time for more than 8 years

Pros

- Get to work with great teams in a fast-paced challenging environment
- Significant responsibility early in your career (e.g., management of others)
- Learn A TON and develop your business skills
- Merit based promotions

Cons

- Fast-pace and high standards creates stressful environment
- Long hours (but typical of other consulting firms, as I understand it)

Advice to Management

Managing Directors should make sure to maintain small-office feel as we grow (e.g., getting to know Associates, and showing in-person appreciation for teams' hard work)

Great people, opportunities for management of associates, limited travel policy (typically 1 day per month), opportunity to work with private equity and smaller companies, and interactions with senior management..

Cons

Long and unpredictable hours, outdated I.T. infrastructure, limited mentorship opportunities, and casework needs often dominate over personal development needs

Advice to Management

Provide more vision on where the firm is heading and our strategy for getting there